Those were three points thrown away. In the end, they chased the deficit in a nearly chaotic manner, but to no avail – even though the athletes had started so well: LASK initially struggled with the guests, who were overwhelmed by the pace and combinations of the athletes. After a deep pass from Sascha Horvath, George Bello passed the ball across the penalty area to Robert Zulj, but the captain only hit Mohamed Ouedraogo on the line (7′).
The athletes liked the space that Altach gave them – and they used it to make it 1-0: Oses Usor was given time on the right side to think carefully about where to place the cross, at the far post Robert Zulj overtook defender Pascal Estrada and scored to make it 1-0 (18′).
Horvath’s assist for Altach
LASK helped the unsettled opponent back on their feet: Sascha Horvath played a bad pass between Branko Jovicic and Hrvoje Smolcic in their own half of the field, and both of them then ran after Gustavo Santos. The Brazilian gave Tobias Lawal no chance – 1:1 (28′).
Altach needed double luck immediately afterwards to go into the break with the score at 1:1: Goalkeeper Dejan Stojanovic fished a shot from Branko Jovicic out of the corner, but the ball still bounced towards the goal and Paul Koller saved (29th minute). And again after a cross, it was not the defense, but Valon Berisha’s inability to head the ball that prevented a 2:1 (30th minute).
Altach took advantage of the defensive weaknesses
LASK left structure and ball control behind in the dressing room at half-time. Altach had a great chance to take the lead when Oliver Strunz failed to deflect a perfect cross towards the goal (49th minute). And suddenly it was 1:2: The LASK defense was again poorly organized, after a deep pass Lawal stormed out of his goal, but Santos got to the ball first. Philipp Ziereis got in the way of the shot, but the Brazilian put Altach in the lead (69th minute).
The goal was a blow for LASK, the athletes could no longer find their balance. Despite all the struggle and struggle, Altach’s defensive wall could not be broken down, and the ease of the early stages was no longer visible in terms of play.
The defeat was not fair. But it is also a fact that LASK revealed deficits that need to be remedied quickly.
